Brugman having breakout year, following in siblings' footsteps

The Desert Vista junior is one of those athletes with zero notion
of what neutral is and her game in no shape or form resembles those
NASCAR races when restrictor plates are used in the stock
cars.

"She works so hard, never gives up on a play," Thunder coach Rachel
Proudfoot said. "She is always going for the hustle plays or taking
a charge. She does a lot of dirty work that takes a certain desire
that not all players possess. She gets in there, tips a ball that
ends up leading to an extra rebound while other players might be
heading back up court.

"Jaymee plays through the ball and her mindset allows her to be as
successful as she is."

It's a mindset that is all too familiar with Desert Vista followers
as she is the youngest of five Brugmans to come through the school,
dating back 13 years.

"I've always loved DV and wanted to play there," said Brugman, who
was 3 years old when her oldest sister, Jayna, was a freshman for
the Thunder, but mostly remembers going to her brothers' games. "I
used to watch my brothers and sister play for the Thunder and I
couldn't wait until I got my chance."

The 6-foot-1 post averaged 16.3 points and 10.0 rebounds heading
into Wednesday's game against Phoenix Xavier. She leads the Fiesta
Region, one of the toughest in the state, in both categories and is
taking aim at junior varsity coach Kalei Nance's record.

Check off one.

"I set personal goals along with team goals each year," said
Brugman, who is also a starter with the Thunder volleyball program
that made the semifinals in the fall. "At the beginning of the
year, I wanted to beat (Nance) records (for double doubles), but
those are just goals. I don't know how many rebounds I get or
points I scored until my dad says ‘Do you realize you got 24
rebounds?'"

Yeah, 24 rebounds. A school record that surpassed the mark of 22
set in 2003 set by Nance against Dobson.

She did that against Warren (Calif.) in Phase II of the Nike
Tournament of Champions along with 22 points on Dec. 29. She's had
10 double-doubles on the season while shooting 56 percent from the
floor.

The other record held by Nance is total rebounds for the season at
340. That one is probably out of reach unless the Thunder make an
extended playoff run.

But there is always next year when she will be even more physical
and confident.

"I think playing against my brothers when they were so much bigger
and stronger than me at the time, it helped me become aggressive
and fight for the ball," said Brugman, who played in a boys
recreation league at age 8 because there were no leagues for young
girls. "I couldn't sit back or I'd never get the ball."

Proudfoot, whose team was 10-14 overall and 2-6 in the Fiesta
heading into Wednesday's game, said that time with her brothers
allowed her to develop a feel for the game.

"She was on varsity as a freshman because of her court awareness
and knowledge of the game," Proudfoot said. "Skills-wise she might
not have been ready, but we knew she would be in the right place
and make good decisions."

Her skills are still developing as Proudfoot said she is more of a
power forward than a center at the college level.

"She is out of position most games, giving up some size, and she is
starting to hit some 3-pointers at the end of the season here,"
Proudfoot said. "We all told her to go ahead and take that shot and
now that they are starting to go in she is getting the
confidence."

Brugman believes she is a college-level player with hopes of
playing at Brigham Young University, but at the same time knows
there is a lot of work to be done before it comes to
fruition.

"Coach has helped me with everything from positioning to attitude,"
Brugman said. "I see myself getting better every day, but there is
a long time between now and then and I want to make sure we are
getting better as a team, too. We aren't having the season we
wanted, but we are young.

"By this time next year we are going to be really good and that's
only going to make me better."

Mel Freund races from first to third base on a seventh-inning
single at Liberty Buick Field in Sun City West and tallies the
winning run moments later for the Paul Tone Agency. Teammates bound
out of the third-base dugout Tuesday to celebrate the Sun Cities
American League softball win. Freund smiles as the Paul Tone Agency
improves its record to 2-1 with the 13-12 walk-off victory over
Canyon State Air.

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